//------------------------------// // Chapter 23 // Story: Upgrading the Railway Network // by The Stainmore Phoenix //------------------------------// Chapter 23 With Dangersignal having to train Coupling Rod, the strain was taking it’s toll on the Alicorn. His eyes had changed from light red to dark red and he became harder and colder. Normally this would have lasted several days, but it had lasted a good three months. All of the anger and coldness was not being helped by Coupling Rod’s arrogance. The young earth pony was proving to be worse than Discord. Anytime anyone gave him sound advice, he blew it off. He also ignored orders, did things his own way and picked fights that resulted in him injuring fellow railway men. Coupling Rod’s file was filled with warnings, relief forms, suspension slips and countless complaints from passengers. “This guy’s a train wreck!” Breezeblaze snapped one night, after coming back home after helping clean the White Knight, her favorite steam locomotive. “He never listens to a thing anyone says and look, he damaged one of my wings!” She showed her left wing, which was bandaged up. “He actually threw a shovel at me when I told him that I needed some help polishing White Knight’s paintwork,” the Pegasus filly said. “He then told me that little babies shouldn’t be in the sheds and that railway work is a man’s job!” “That’s a lie,” Coalstreak said. “I help out, often times standing in as a firelighter and I’m a girl.” “I know you do and my father is grateful for your help,” Breezeblaze told her cousin. “I think,” Pinestreak said, his temper reaching dangerous levels. “That he needs to be brought to earth and soon.” “How do you propose to do that?” came a voice. They turned to see Rainbow Dash approaching them. “He never listens and besides he’s an earth pony,” she said. “It’d be hard to bring him down to earth.” “What if we paired him up against someone ten times as stubborn as him?” Stormcloud asked. “Maybe he’d finally learn his lesson.” “If you think that it’ll work,” Rainbow Dash said. “Your father has experience dealing with ponies like Coupling Rod. If I were you, I’d stay out of his path. Now, run along to bed.” The kids did as Rainbow Dash suggested and she then went off to find the humans who her husband worked with. Wandering about the castle, she soon found them and her friends in the meeting room. Once the cyan Pegasus shut the door, Keyth explained the plan he had to the ponies and other humans. “Are you sure that it’ll work?” Applejack asked. “It doesn’t sound like it’ll work.” “Trust me, if we don’t do anything, then chaos, far greater than Discord could ever dream of controlling will run loose,” Twilight said. “So, are you all in or are you all out?” “Count us in,” Rainbow Dash said. The next morning, they put their plan into action. The plan, as it had been outlined by Keyth was that they would split the two up and keep them as far apart as they could. Rarity would use Dangersignal to fashion her dresses on. Considering that the male Alicorn loved getting dirty and stuck in anywhere, the fashionista unicorn would drive him absolutely nuts with her clothing and insisting that everything look perfect. Coupling Rod would work with Fluttershy and help her tend her animals. The earth pony had a love of the rails and found working with a responsive machine the best part of life. Having him work with animals would also drive him nuts. The rest of the plan was to keep them not on as far apart as possible, but keep them occupied for as long as possible, which would result in them not only missing their work, but it would result in them missing each other. Rarity and Rainbow Dash found Dangersignal heading for the front door. Making their move, they caught up to the Alicorn and herded him towards Carousel Boutique. He thought nothing of it, considering he was supposed to pick up a pair of newly stitched overalls. When they arrived, he was instantly taken into the back, where Rarity did all her stitching and creating. She shut the door and bolted it, with Rainbow Dash barricading it from the other side. The window was also shut and barricaded. Dangersignal raised a brow, but thought nothing of it, until Rarity started fussing around him. She was taking measurements, muttered to herself and began to ask him to stand straight up and look like a regal Alicorn. He didn’t show his discomfort at being stuck in a room with the fashion nut. ‘If I ever get out of this room,’ he thought. ‘I’ll definitely make it up to Coupling Rod.’ Right now, he hoped the trainee driver was fairing better. If he could see Coupling Rod’s predicament, then he’d get his answer. Poor Coupling Rod was tied up and stuck in a pot, with the animals marching around him with forks and spoons. Fluttershy was having a hard time keeping them in control. ‘Trucks seem easier to control,’ he thought. After Fluttershy used her “stare” to keep the animals in check, she untied him and he helped prepare their food. The two railway ponies were being put through their paces and then some. That night, while Rarity slept, Dangersignal teleported out of the back room and over to where Coupling Rod was. Once he got the sleeping earth pony, he teleported the both of them to the safety of the railway shed. It was a five minute wait until Coupling Rod woke up. “What are you playing at?” he asked. “You’ll see,” Dangersignal said. “This is nothing new.” The earth pony watch, bewildered as the Alicorn made replica figures and to take their place. Once he set everything in place, Dangersignal returned to a shamefaced Coupling Rod. “Sorry,” he said. “I came from the rough part of Manehatten, and you have to be tough to get anything.” “Well, your on a railway, where being a tough guy is a hindrance to you r performance,” Dangersignal said. “The reason you’ve never climbed the ladder to be a proper driver is because of that tough guy exterior.” “Oh,” he said and watched as Dangersignal prepared the Bissell tank engine for harbor shunting. “I want to know one thing, is it a crime to ask for assistance?” “No,” came the reply. “Asking for help is the first step in making sure you are learning. The student ashamed of asking questions is ashamed of learning.” Coupling Rod was impressed by the Alicorn’s words and took that philosophy to heart. Deciding that it wouldn’t do to have the Alicorn do all the work, the earth pony grabbed a coal shovel and began to move coal from the bunker of the locomotive to the firebox. Dangersignal set the coal alight with a fire spell from his horn and as they waited for pressure, Coupling Rod went out and oiled the locomotive’s lubrication points. As Dangersignal looked at the pressure gauge, his eyes popped. The gauge wasn’t stopping. In fact, the needle was moving into the reds and then it reached the green, where zero was. “Our pressure gauge has gone right round the clock!” He called to the Earth Pony, “I’m dropping the fire. There’s something wrong with the engine!” With that, the Alicorn put the fire out and began to inspect every inch of the square topped 0-4-2 saddle tank engine until he came upon a small metal plaque. “Well, that certainly takes the biscuit,” he said as Coupling Rod came up. “Boiler Ticket’s gone and expired. This engine will need a new boiler and unfortunately, there is no magic that can make a new boiler appear.” “Great,” came the disgruntled reply. “The harbor’s so full of chaos and we have no way of taming it.” “Maybe we do,” Dangersignal said and glanced thoughtfully over to the Robinson 0-8-4T. Galloping over to it, Dangersignal checked the boiler ticket and sighed with relief. “It’s still functional,” he said. “I’ll lubricate the joints, you get a fire going.” “Right,” Coupling Rod said and began to pile coal on the fire and when all was prepared, he asked Dangersignal if the Alicorn could set an old and very oily rag on fire, so that way the earth pony would have a fire to manipulate to build steam pressure. Dangersignal oiled rounds on the engine and then joined the earth pony. It takes three hours for a steam engine to get pressure up, which means that the crew often take in turns to have a cup of tea, eat breakfast, check the sandboxes and go over the schedule for the day. Sometimes, more experienced crews used this time to explain all the intricate workings of the railway to the new guy. As the two ponies sat, waiting for pressure to build, Coupling Rod asked questions of the railway, making sure to understand everything. Dangersignal explained all the different duties and when pressure had sufficiently rose, Dangersignal opened the regulator and the locomotive rolled towards the open shed door. When the engine rolled out, the sight that greeted the two ponies made their jaws hang open. Trucks and coaches were everywhere and the passengers were complaining. The two began to sort the mess out, their versatility being put to the test. Their engine was being paced beyond belief, being sandwiched between trucks and coaches. No sooner had one passenger train been prepared, then an engine was fired up and the train taken. Once it was out of sight, a goods train was prepared and the shunting engine scrambled away to prepare another passenger train. The team worked well together and soon had the harbor back in order in no time. “All ship shape and Swindon fashion,” Dangersignal said. “The motto of the Great Western Railway?” Coupling Rod asked. “Correct,” Dangersignal said. The Alicorn leaned out of the cab to make sure that the points were set for them to collect a line of the old four wheeled coaches that Equestria had been using. The two of them were to take them to the works to be completely rebuilt, with the correct braking systems. As for the engines, they were beyond repair and in need of being scrapped. “I really don’t like taking steam engines to the scrap yards,” Coupling Rod moaned. “I know, I don’t like it either, but it’s better than having them break down or blow their boilers off the frames and injure many ponies,” Dangersignal sighed. “Think of it this way though, the parts will be recast and the engines made as good as new.” Coupling Rod agreed and jumped down to give hoof signals to Dangersignal. Most railway ponies hate being a ground guide as they have to be on the driver’s side. If they’re on the wrong side, the driver runs blind and often times there can be an accident. Dangersignal was used to being the ground guide, and he did it as part of the profession. Coupling Rod had rarely done that, being only a cleaner. This was his first time doing the job and he was doing a splendid job. When the large engine was buffered up to the coaches, Dangersignal joined Coupling Rod and the two worked on joining the coupling, securing it with a length of steel cable. The reason for the cable was that the couplings were different, and only slightly compatible. Once all the necessary preparations were complete, Dangersignal eased the train out of the sidings and over to where trains could easily leave the harbor rails and move onto open lines. Once all the points clanked over and the coordinating signals dropped, Coupling Rod joined the Alicorn on the footplate and the train slowly set off. The coaches were in a sorry state indeed. Paint was missing or faded, the windows had spider web cracks, the carriage bodies were sagging or falling in on themselves. If there was an award for the worst looking interior, the little coaches would have taken first place. Benches were rusted and collapsed as the train rolled over rail joints, the cushions had springs and fluff popping out of every seam. The couplings were the second offender, often times breaking off, forcing Dangersignal to stop and the two ponies would have to climb down and collect the parts, then Dangersignal had to move the coaches together and hope that the two coaches wouldn’t collapse when they were moved together. One delay followed another and the train was now two and a half hours late arriving at Canterlot, where it was sent into a siding. However, the siding was much to short and when the coaches struck the buffers, half of the 60 coaches collapsed like a house of soaked playing cards. Dangersignal’s eyes were wide. “That I did expect,” he said. “I’ll send for flatbeds to put the destroyed coaches on and open wagons to put the broken axles and little parts in.” Coupling Rod waited with the locomotive while Dangersignal sent for help. Meanwhile, Rarity was waking up and making her way to the back room was expecting to see Dangersignal pacing the room, with very little to no sleep. However, she was surprised to see the dark red Alicorn standing there, wide awake and smiling. “Glad to see that you’re ready to help me,” she said, placing a hoof around his neck and shoulders. Dangersignal collapsed and popping out was fluff and wooden dowels. Rarity looked, then started to gnash her teeth. Poking her head out, she saw Fluttershy and the others, all looking irritated. The humans with the other ponies were also irritated. “I thought we had them,” Rainbow Dash snarled. “We all thought the same thing,” Applejack said. As they planned to get their own back on Dangersignal and Coupling Rod, the two railway ponies were slowly making their way to the works at the Crystal Empire with the coaches after being given the road and the mess was cleaned up. The large tank engine was sandwiched between the remaining coaches and heavy trucks with the broken coaches. “Oh, bother and blow!” Dangersignal huffed. “We’ll never make it over a hill with a train this heavy this side of summer!” “Couldn’t we attempt it?” Coupling Rod asked. “I mean we can’t tie up the line.” Dangersignal admitted he had a good point. The train soon drew up to the platform starter. Dangersignal waited until the engine had a good head of steam and when the signal dropped, Dangersignal pulled one on the whistle and advanced the regulator sharply. The noise was volcanic indeed! Coupling Rod shoveled for dear life, and the large tank engine began to belt up the grades. The weight was pushing and pulling against the engine, but the crew danced the levers, shovel, coal and water. They were going to make the greatest use of their steam while they had it and get a show out of it that would put the Wonderbolts to shame! To any skilled railway man or railway pony, working on a railway is a finely tuned dance between crews, engines, trucks and/or coaches. Much like how a good dance steals the night, a crew who is well trained and able to work without any problem can do anything and push themselves beyond their design limits. If anyone was to look in the cab of the large tank engine, they would have said that Dangersignal, Coupling Rod and the locomotive all danced their parts well. The train rolled along the flat just after reaching the top of the climb and coasted all the way to the works, where the foremare directed them to empty sidings to dump the train. “Since you’re here, can you take a train of scrap to the smelters?” she asked. “Certainly, Madam,” Coupling Rod said. She then directed them to a siding where a train of twenty wagons sat, filled with scrap. That was a regular train that no-one liked taking, but if the works were to get fresh metal to make parts, then it had to be done. Coupling Rod once again acted as ground guide and when the engine’s buffers connected with the wagon’s buffers, Dangersignal set the brakes and waited while Coupling Rod connected the screw link couplings and tightened the screw. Once safely inside, Dangersignal moved the regulator and the engine responded by moving backwards. The train was heavy, but shunting mares ran alongside and pinned the brakes on the wagons as the engine slowly crawled to the cliff it would jump off. “Jumping off a Cliff” is when an engine goes over the top of a hill or gradient, whether it’s on the flats or on the shallow side of a gradient. On unfitted trains, it is important to pin the brakes on the wagons as it gives the driver, fireman (or fire pony) and guard total control over the train. After all, with no control over the wagons, they will overpower the engine and the train becomes a runaway, with no way to stop. All the crew can do is hope their brakes hold or they come off at a curve clear of a town or city. Dangersignal knew this and made sure that everyone and everypony obeyed that rule. It has kept the wagons in check and no runaways have ever occurred. With him at the regulator of the engine hauling the scrap train, it was no different. Dancing the brakes carefully, the train coasted along a goods line on the other side of Ponyville, which took them to White Tail Woods and to the junction to the smelters yard. It was a rarely used line, but Dangersignal still whistled to warn everyone that he was coming to a stand to unpin the brakes. All crew men and crew ponies like to have their train on what is known as the “Absolute Flat”, which means that there is no gradients for the rest of the journey, so that way the wagon brakes can stay off, which helps conserve coal and water. Once Dangersignal had unpinned the wagon brakes, he joined Coupling Rod in the cab and the train started off after Coupling Rod gave a blast of the whistle. The trucks were heavy, so the journey was still slow, but with unpinned wagon brakes, the train was moving slightly faster. Just as the brake van disappeared, the humans and Mane Six appeared. The whistle had drawn them to the rarely used station. Something puzzled Fluttershy and she put it out there, her shy nature replaced by straight curiosity. “Why was there a whistle from this line?” she asked. “Better yet, where does this line go?” “To White Tail Woods, darling,” Rarity said. “And to the smelters yard,” Alistair added. “They’ve gone…oh my…they must be…” Fluttershy began, her shy and timid nature coming back. “Must be scared?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Remember, Dangersignal fought off Sombra and put him in an advanced state of weakness, which allowed for Princess Cadence to finally rid Equestria of that pest?” “Oh,” was all anyone could say. “But I understand that the smelters yard could scare them. I mean, watching as engines are broken up and melted down, it’s not a pleasing sight,” Rainbow Dash continued. Just then, their thoughts were broken when a whistle rang out. They looked to see a large tank engine heading their way with a small train of wagons, covered over. Glancing towards the cab, they saw that Dangersignal was looking grim, and Coupling Rod was looking anxious. Then it happened. POP! WHEEEEEEEEEEEE-EEEEEEEEEEEEEESH!!!!!!! “That’s done it, the safety valve’s gone!” Coupling Rod said. The engine was stopped too quickly. The wagons banged hard into each other and the surged the poor engine forward violently, knocking Coupling Rod off the footplate and onto the platform. Dangersignal tried hard to keep the trucks from coming off the rails, but had he been wary of the rails, things might have been better. The action and vibrations of the “fighting” train caused the rails, which were in rather awkward condition, to break and put the engine on the ground. The wagons jolted roughly, with five out of the ten landing on the ground. Dangersignal was knocked from the cab, but his wings caught him, allowing him to stay upright. He looked around, but was face to face with Rainbow Dash’s ice cold glare. “Hello, dear.”